Suspiria by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Author:Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: PER004030, Performing Arts/Film & Video/History & Criticism, PER004020, Performing Arts/Film & Video/Guides & Reviews
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2015-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Suzy and Sarah in the temporary dormitory

There is another dramatic shift in tone as the film cuts to daytime. The early scene of Suzy and Daniel arriving at the school is replicated, although this time Suzy is notably absent: she now lies within its walls, no longer an outsider. Leaving his German Shepard at the door, Daniel enters the building, but the slow zoom into his canine companion foreshadows its ominous role. In a brief but crucial exchange, Miss Tanner is revealed to be a liar when Sarah asks her on the stairwell if the Directress slept in the Tanzakademie on the previous evening and is told this was not the case.

Outside, the kitchen hand and Albert approach the building hesitantly. The dog looks up and growls, but the attack on Albert that Miss Tanner soon accuses it of is not shown: rather, the camera pans slowly down the very corridor where Suzy was bewitched by the kitchen hand and Albert earlier in the film. Why? It is certainly not the case that Argento is squeamish; this has already been established with gusto. Rather, perhaps showing the child as a victim would risk aligning the viewer with Albert, challenging the carefully – although very subtle – construction of him as a indefinably malevolent force. Or would any display of the dog’s tendency towards violence detract from the impact of his upcoming attack on his owner? Alternatively – and most tantalizingly – is the possibility that the attack never happened at all. We only have the second hand report of Miss Tanner that the dog did in fact attack Albert. Did the witches sense that the dog had an insight into their true identities, an insight that the film’s human protagonists have thus far been blind to?

The confrontation between Miss Tanner and Daniel in the Yellow Room shatters yet another potential moment where this film about a ballet school might in fact show some dancing. Banging her fist on the piano, Tanner and the piano player pull no punches, and Daniel tells her that he has a greater idea of what is going on at the Tanzakedemie than they might think he does. Furious but laughing, Daniel makes the important declaration as he leaves the school that he can finally smell fresh air: again, another explicit reference to the rot that riddles the institution, both literally and metaphorically.

Suzy is still begrudgingly eating her meals alone in her room. Drugged and drowsy, she struggles to follow Sarah’s train of thought as she describes the strange goings on in the academy at night. As Sarah counts the mysterious footsteps of the ladies of the academy as they go about their mysterious evening business, a close up of high heels walking down a corridor is shown, accompanied by the evocative tap-tap-tapping sound as they hit the hardwood floor. Flooded with red and then dark blue light, there is a film noir quality to these two brief but important close-ups, as again dangerous femininity is rendered explicit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.